Exterior of the farmhouse. It is just dawn. The front door at right is opened and Eben comes out and walks around to the gate. He is dressed in his working clothes. He seems changed. His face wears a bold and confident expression, he is grinning to himself with evident satisfaction. As he gets near the gate, the window of the parlor is heard opening and the shutters are flung back and Abbie sticks her head out. Her hair tumbles over her shoulders in disarray, her face is flushed, she looks at Eben with tender, languorous eyes and calls softly
ABBIE--Eben. (as he turns--playfully) Jest one more kiss afore ye go. I'm goin' t' miss ye fearful all day.
EBEN--An' me yew, ye kin bet! (He goes to her. They kiss several times. He draws away, laughingly) Thar. That's enuf, hain't it? Ye won't hev none left fur next time.
ABBIE--I got a million o' 'em left fur yew! (then a bit anxiously) D'ye r'ally love me, Eben?
EBEN--(emphatically) I like ye better'n any gal I ever knowed! That's gospel!
ABBIE--Likin' hain't lovin'.
EBEN--Waal then--I love ye. Now air yew satisfied?
ABBIE--Ay-eh, I be. (She smiles at him adoringly.)
EBEN--I better git t' the barn. The old critter's liable t' suspicion an' come sneakin' up.
ABBIE--(with a confident laugh) Let him! I kin allus pull the wool over his eyes. I'm goin' t' leave the shutters open and let in the sun 'n' air. This room's been dead long enuf. Now it's goin't' be my room!
EBEN--(frowning) Ay-eh.
ABBIE--(hastily) I meant--our room.
EBEN--Ay-eh.
ABBIE--We made it our'n last night, didn't we? We give it life--our lovin' did. (a pause)
EBEN--(with a strange look) Maw's gone back t' her grave. She kin sleep now.
ABBIE--May she rest in peace! (then tenderly rebuking) Ye oughtn't t' talk o' sad thin's--this mornin'.
EBEN--It jest come up in my mind o' itself.
ABBIE--Don't let it. (He doesn't answer. She yawns.) Waal, I'm a-goin' t' steal a wink o' sleep. I'll tell the Old Man I hain't feelin' pert. Let him git his own vittles.
EBEN--I see him comin' from the barn. Ye better look smart an' git upstairs.
ABBIE--Ay-eh. Good-by. Don't ferget me. (She throws him a kiss. He grins--then squares his shoulders and awaits his father confidently. Cabot walk slowly up from the left, staring up at the sky with a vague face.)
EBEN--(jovially) Mornin', Paw. Star-gazin' in daylight?
CABOT--Purty, hain't it?
EBEN--(looking around him possessively) It's a durned purty farm.
CABOT--I mean the sky.
EBEN--(grinning) How d'ye know? Them eyes o' your'n can't see that fur. (This tickles his humor and he slaps his thigh and laughs.) Ho-ho! That's a good un!
CABOT--(grimly sarcastic) Ye're feelin' right chipper, hain't ye? Whar'd ye steal the likker?
EBEN--(good-naturedly) 'Tain't likker. Jest life. (suddenly holding out his hand--soberly) Yew 'n' me is quits. Let's shake hands.
CABOT--(suspiciously) What's come over ye?
EBEN--Then don't. Mebbe it's jest as well. (a moment's pause) What's come over me? (queerly) Didn't ye feel her passin'--goin' back t' her grave?
CABOT--(dully) Who?
EBEN--Maw. She kin rest now an' sleep content. She's quits with ye.
CABOT--(confusedly) I rested. I slept good--down with the cows. They know how t' sleep. They're teachin' me.
EBEN--(suddenly jovial again) Good fur the cows! Waal--ye better git t' work.
CABOT--(grimly amused) Air yew bossin' me, ye calf?
EBEN--(beginning to laugh) Ay-eh! I'm bossin' yew. Ha-ha-ha! See how ye like it! Ha-ha-ha! I'm the prize rooster o' this roost. Ha-ha-ha! (He goes off toward the barn laughing)
CABOT--(looks after him with scornful pity) Soft-headed. Like his Maw. Dead spit 'n' image. No hope in him! (He spits with contemptuous disgust.) A born fool! (then matter-of-factly) Waal--I'm gittin' peckish. (He goes toward door.)
(The Curtain Falls)
